2 men Convicted in KFC Killings Want New DNA Tests

HENDERSON, Texas -- Two Tyler men convicted and serving life prison terms for the notorious East Texas Kentucky Fried Chicken slayings that went unsolved for more than two decades have filed court motions seeking new DNA testing of evidence.

Romeo Pinkerton pleaded guilty in 2007 to five first-degree murder counts. His cousin, Darnell Hartsfield, went to trial the following year and was convicted of similar charges.

The five victims were abducted during a robbery of the Kilgore KFC in 1983, taken to an oilfield outside town and fatally shot.

Advances in DNA testing allowed investigators to tie the cousins to the slayings. Both men last month filed their own motions in their trial court questioning the reliability of the DNA results.

The Rusk County prosecutor said Wednesday he's confident the convictions are solid.

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